By Norm Park
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The challenges of growth in Estevan don't just include land assembly and development or paving projects, they include leisure services as well.
The unprecedented growth in population and subdivision development translates into extra pressure and demands being exerted on the city's leisure services portfolio.
One visible victim of this growth is the spray pool in Royal Heights playpark, a feature item in the green space on the city's west side that has been inoperable this summer so for the rest of this season.
"It has been giving us trouble for the past two summers," said Nathan Jesse, the City's leisure services manager. "We've been struggling with it for awhile and any repair orders are on hold. We're having to wait on new developments. There may be a spray pool program included in a new park in the future. This one has served for about 20 years, so it's done well, but the system would need an upgrade, so the question comes full circle," he said. "There will be an overall parks program established soon. We have four parks with paddling pools that have been part of our programming since the 1960s. They have supervised programs that are very popular."
These older parks and programs, (Hillside, Hillcrest, Churchill and Rusty Duce) are supported by local service clubs that contribute to their successful operations and programs.
The paddling pools will continue to serve these mature parks well into the future, but plans for the newer parks need to come into the mix with the promised master plan. Heritage Park, Torgeson Park, Centennial Park and Royal Heights, to name a few, are part of the complete package. Another green space associated with the Trimount development project on the city's north side is about to be turned over to the City soon with the expectation of a playpark development in the near future.
"We have aging facilities in some areas," said Jesse, referring to the four mature parks and their supervised programs, plus some intermediate sites that have been maturing over the years such as Torgeson, Heritage and Royal Heights and then those about to come on stream.
"Unfortunately, I can't give you a definite answer right now regarding the future plans because they are still being developed," said Jesse.
There are no issues of staffing and he laughed when asked if the leisure services budget expectations are being met. "Of course we always want more and would love to have more."
With the exception of the spray pool area at Royal Heights, which isn't going to be repaired, at least anytime soon, the parks are being well maintained and groomed, he said.
A staff of 29 employees, including 20 summer students, are getting those jobs done in timely fashion.
"But as far as future construction and expansion, we have to play the wait and see game for now," Jesse added. "The Royal Heights spray pool would be an expensive fix, we know that much. There are tree root issues there as well that come into play. As for new park developments, I don't know yet how that will unroll. That's still at the land development stage at City Hall.
"The parks are in good condition right now, especially considering the age of some of them and we're very lucky to have local organizations and businesses willing to support programs for craft supplies and things like that," Jesse said.
The question of whether the supervised programs can be expanded in the future, is another one that has to be left in abeyance until his department can get a clearer picture of what will be expected of it in the near future.
"We have some interesting decisions to make and a lot of questions to look forward to over the next 12 months," Jesse said in conclusion.
